Congress Votes to Restrict Libya War While China Chats With Rebels

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Congress Votes to Restrict Libya War While China Chats With Rebels

The U.S. House just voted to put limits on American action in Libya. Meanwhile, rebels fighting dictator Moammar Gadhafi are getting a diplomatic bump from an unlikely source: China.

Congress voted today on two separate resolutions to pull back on American military involvement in Libya. Republican House Speaker John Boehner's bill passed the House by a vote of 268-145. The resolution directed the president not to "deploy, establish, or maintain" ground troops in the country for anything other than rescuing American forces. That's something the White House pledged it wasn't about to do, anyway. But Boehner's resolution challenged the administration in other ways. It also called for a host of information from the White House on sore points about the war, including its cost, and America's "security interests and objectives" in the conflict.

The House also voted on Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich's resolution to pull U.S. troops out of Libya completely within 15 days. Though Kucinich's resolution failed 148-265 and Boehner's is non-binding, the votes are nonetheless a sign of growing Congressional unease with the war in North Africa.

While support for American military commitment to Libya took a hit today, China seems to be warming to the idea of involving itself more in the conflict politically.

China's Foreign Ministry confirmed today that the country has been chatting with members of Libya's National Transitional Council, the body that claims political leadership of the Libyan rebellion. "Chinese ambassador to Qatar Zhang Zhiliang has recently met with Chairman of the Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) Jalil and the two sides exchanged views on the Libyan situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman tells the government-backed Xinhua news agency.

China didn't oppose the United Nations resolution authorizing military action in Libya, opting to abstain from the vote. But they have been fairly critical of the wider scope of coalition military strikes in the weeks since. The Chinese generally aren't crazy about the concept of regime change or international intervention in countries' domestic affairs, particularly on human rights grounds.

Nevertheless, the changes sweeping through the Middle East are apparently forcing China out of its diplomatic comfort zone. Their engagement with the Council helps add international legitimacy to the rebel group and comes as a slap in the face to the Gadhafi regime. If a post-Gadhafi future is in the cards, a good relationship with Libya's presumptive government-in-waiting might be helpful in getting China's commercial investments in the country back on track, too.

China's talks come on the heels of another international headache for the Libyan regime. Last week, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's publicly called for Gadhafi to step down, with Russia offering to mediate between pro and anti regime forces. Like China, Russia also abstained from the UN Libya vote and took a critical line against West for its allegedly broad use of force in the country.